2021 – Miyawaki Planting in Colombes – Z Tower

Before

After 2 years and a half

Planting period: November 2021

m²

plants

volounteers

Note: a (very) urban plantation! The Miyawaki plantation in Colombes was initiated by the new municipal team to convey the vision of the district’s new urbanism: at the foot of the Z tower, a symbol of historically very mineral urbanism, a mini-forest is being planted solely with local residents: residents of the tower, children from the nearby Langevin-Wallon recreation center, passers-by, and even a few brave volunteers from the nearby retirement home!

Planting location: intersection of allée Robespierre and rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Colombes (92)

The plantation is located on a former spit of land sandwiched between two roads, often used as an unauthorized parking lot, according to the locals (who are clearly not very happy with this situation). The site is located at the foot of a very tall residential tower, “Tower Z”, so named because it was to be the last of its kind in the city. There was therefore a desire on the part of the municipality to mark a turning point in the urban planning projects undertaken under the new mandate, and the participatory nature of the method offered a perfect opportunity to invite residents to take an active part in creating a new landscape right down the road from their homes.

GPS coordinates : 4.901457131966713, 45.724079873145115

The planting in pictures

Planting in November 2021

Click on the pictures to reveal the captions

The ground has been prepared with compost and turned over by the municipal green space agents. Everything is ready to go!

Before the planting, we held a workshop with children from the neighboring school, to explain the process and ask questions about nature in the city. The workshop was very well received, with great enthusiasm! We created this poster together.

And off we went! The children had to get their hands in the dirt after talking about it in class!

It’s definitely a new way of looking at your neighborhood!

As always, we progress by zone: each group of children advances over a well-defined area, in which all operations are carried out sequentially: digging, planting, mulching. If one group takes longer than another, it can continue at its own pace, while a supervisor starts on another area with the next group.

Adults also joined us, often at random during their day’s strolls: all in a very convivial atmosphere where the local residents got together… around a tree!

Just a few more months of waiting to see the leaves grow on the new neighbors in the neighborhood!

In addition to the poster designed by the children, the municipality has produced large panels for display on a wall next to the plantation. Communication is all the more essential in such a busy location.

Second poster produced by the town

Site evolution over time

6 months later: the area is greener, but the wheat has sprouted from the straw, which obviously contained a lot of it… An amusing anecdote: when the green space agents took the initiative of weeding, they were taken to task by local residents, who told them to let the forest grow: successful appropriation!

8 months after planting: cleared of tall weeds, the young trees are in great shape!

A year later, we returned to the site with our school group: surprise, the trees were already overtaking them!

We return to the site to carry out a final weeding operation before winter with the children: they are highly motivated and efficient, and don’t hesitate to pick up any garbage they find!

When working with children: make sure you have gloves that fit!

For weeding operations, it’s best to work in small groups to keep everyone’s attention focused. As the trees are very dense and still very young, the top priority is to avoid inadvertently crushing any by being too numerous on the site.

One year on, the planting is really promising and has already completely changed the look of this little square!

Two years and six months later, we’re delighted!

The trees have grown and many of them are over 2 meters tall. We know that this will be the last weeding operation.

The planting in pictures

Planting in November 2021

Site evolution over time

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